The present embodiments relate to early therapy response assessment. In particular, computer-aided response assessment is provided.
The response of a tumor under therapy is measured based on geometric measures, such as the diameter (e.g., RECIST or WHO criteria) or volume. A clinician monitors the geometric measures in radiological scans (e.g. CT or MRI) for a long period of time until a decision can be made about outcome. Many rounds of therapy are performed before the clinician makes a decision based on the geometric measures about whether the therapy is likely to succeed or not. Long periods of therapy may result in higher dosage for the patient (e.g., radiation therapy and/or x-ray imaging for the geometric measures) and greater cost of the therapy drugs.
Typically, the lesion appearance (e.g. enhancement pattern) changes earlier than geometric changes of the lesion occur. The lesion may maintain its size for a longer time while its tissue is already turning necrotic. The texture of a lesion gives insight into the therapy response at a much earlier stage, when the size or shape of the lesion is still largely unaffected. Using texture as a parameter, it may be possible to identify cases with a similar medical condition in a database for which the applied therapy and its outcome are known. This may help the doctor in estimating the effectiveness of different therapies and chose the best strategy. However, such approaches are time consuming and/or difficult for a doctor or other person to perform.